Police assure proper protection to retired Justice Patel, family in Mumbai

The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that it will ensure proper protection to retired Justice Gautam Patel and his family in Mumbai over threats allegedly linked to a verdict Justice Patel delivered two days before his retirement in April 2024 in the dispute over the religious leadership of the Dawoodi Bohra community.

The Court asked Commissioner of Police (CP), Mumbai, Deven Bharati to personally monitor the investigation and submit a status report on the probe into the threats. The Court was informed that a complaint was registered by Patel at Gamdevi Police station in South Mumbai over the threats.

The state government, through Public Prosecutor (PP) Shishir Hiray, stated that two personal security officers (PSOs) have already been appointed on 24-hour duty for Justice Patel and his family’s protection in Mumbai.

The HC also asked the Central government to give a “complete picture” in the form of a status report about the steps taken to protect the daughter of the retired judge who suffered a “brutal physical attack” and was left with bleeding injuries in London in April this year. It also asked the Central government to apprise the court about steps taken by Hertfordshire Constabulary in the UK in the probe into threats against Patel and his family.

The threats are allegedly linked to a verdict Justice Patel delivered two days before his retirement in April 2024 in the dispute over the religious leadership of the Dawoodi Bohra community, a Shia Muslim denomination, traditionally a community of traders and entrepreneurs.

While Patel and his family have been receiving threats for nearly 10 months, his daughter was recently assaulted by a masked man in London, fracturing her nose.

The family reported the threatening letters and attacks to local police. Hertfordshire Constabulary told The Indian Express that detectives from its Criminal Investigation Department are probing a “series of linked incidents related to a family currently living in South Hertfordshire” and “safeguarding measures have been provided to the family.”

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A bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Ravindra V Ghuge and Gautam A Ankhad on Monday was hearing a PIL by the Bombay Bar Association (BBA), the Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI), and the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, in Mumbai seeking a thorough high court-monitored probe into threats and the attack against retired Justice Patel and his family through a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge.

The petitioners expressed “serious concerns” over the matter and claimed to be “very much worried” about the independence of the judiciary and the retired judge. Senior advocate Nitin Thakker, the President of BBA, also claimed that the threats, if true, will also impact the judges of the HC deciding the pending challenge against Justice Patel’s verdict.

The lawyers claimed that if a judge of the court is threatened for performing a judicial act and function, “it could be a threat to the judiciary.”

ACJ Ghuge noted that Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, who was on a visit to the UK recently, had intervened in the matter after he was apprised of the series of events occurring in London in relation to Patel and his family.

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The bench noted that CJI Kant himself met the Indian High Commissioner P Kumaran in the UK and sought immediate intervention, after which, “within no time,” an adequate security cover was extended to the retired judge and his family.

PP Hiray for the state government also submitted that the Police would ensure that the retired judge, his wife and his other daughter will be independently protected 24×7. He added that a “proper protection cover by Police authority will be ensured even at the residence in Mumbai, no matter how many family members reside inside or not.” Seeking status reports by the agencies, HC posted further hearing to July 2.

Meanwhile the Mumbai police have also registered a case against an unidentified person for allegedly sending threatening letters to Justice Patel.